Employment surges yet again confounding gloomy GDP data

EMPLOYMENT shot up in the three months to June, highlighting the juxtaposition between labour market and GDP data, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures released yesterday.

Some 201,000 more people had jobs in the second quarter than in the first, while 46,000 fewer were unemployed, the data showed.

London led the pack, accounting for 91 per cent of the fall in joblessness, and close to half of the growth in employment

Public sector pay consolidated its lead over packets in the private sector, with weakly earnings £15 higher on average, but this was mainly down to around 200,000 lower paid public sector workers shifting sector.

Bonuses in the financial sector performed particularly poorly, falling more than a fifth compared to June last year – though bonuses in finance were still more than double those in any other sector.

The data included a number of record highs, as the labour market continues to recover solidly despite the double dip downturn.

Self-employment and part-time employment hit their highest ever levels – but the job growth was broad-based, as 74,000 worked full-time for others. Hours worked shot up by 20.5m, reinforcing the robustness of the positive picture.